


Texts Presented To The Emperor The Haut Fletchir Giaja, May He Reign Forever, On The Occasion Of His Visit To Sergyar

by Ankaret



Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Bujold
Genre: F/M, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-13
Updated: 2009-12-13
Packaged: 2017-10-04 09:44:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ankaret/pseuds/Ankaret
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Cetagandan haut-poet writes RPF about Cordelia and Aral's relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Texts Presented To The Emperor The Haut Fletchir Giaja, May He Reign Forever, On The Occasion Of His Visit To Sergyar

[1.]

The fragrance-swirls disturbed:  
the waiting troposphere  
receives galactic seed.

[2.]

May we, who know the true world  
Speak of such barbarian struggles?  
Have we indeed the language?  
All things are mirrors.

[3.]

Carboxylic, cyclic, condensate: [1]  
by the breathing chemistry of this new-found world  
are we troubled to volatility.

She knows by the concession of angles,  
by the flat upward heaving of his zygomacy [2]  
which lifts into three of the possible dimensions   
the brown and silver formal-crest  
which properly encodes his skin;  
by these tokens she knows him her enemy.

His subordinate's face is broached by a thumb-mark,  
improper, incomplete.  
These things cannot be tolerated by the aesthetic person.  
A reconciliation must be made.

[4.]

He has seen her in her gene-mother's house.  
Her epic poems are of exploration,  
their theme the bright prolific galaxy,  
its branches heavy with stars.

He has heard her operatic pieces performed  
and been moved to the fifth degree of incipient tears   
and has performed the ceremony of prolonging and heightening the sensation  
by means of acidic burned herbs.

He performed this ceremony in the manner proper for a soldier  
and his interpretation of the static and moving forms  
was considered most adequate.

[5.]

Beneath these sheltering stars  
She lifts her hand beneath the long weight of her hair.

What aesthetic recessives may reside  
within the gene-life of this boiling world?

How may she speak to her constellation of these possibilities?

Perhaps he has another lover.

[6.]

It is for the artist to know  
when to destroy, and when to continue.  
The greatest ghem-works have within them   
the seed of human imperfection   
which moves us to the nineteen degrees of weeping.

The greatest haut-works may not be spoken of in this vocal mode.

[7.]

Again we do not speak of the haut or their intentions.

They are subtle and as impenetrable as smoke.  
The water surrounds the questioning hand:  
The Imperial Seal descends  
And is approached with protocol and contemplation. [3]

[8.]

A note of pastoral comedy  
Cleanses the palate.  
The buffoonery of his comical servant, how delightful!

[9.]

She returns to the pillars of her house.  
The silk-banners are lifted for her.  
The retainers sing in pleasing harmony  
and release new-blended hypnotoxins into the receiving air.  
The nurse of her genetic constellation   
Approaches to perform tests.

[10.]

After the consideration   
that she would give to the curve of a fish-bearing lilac-rose-tree;  
after the consideration  
deserved by those who rise to leave before the last movement of a drum-sonata;  
after this consideration   
she chooses to enter his house

and sets a new fashion in slippers.

**Author's Note:**

> [1] Please see the attached scent-display 'The Aromatic Acids Of Sergyar: A Rhapsody In Esters' for an amplification to this verse.  
> [2] The apologies of the poet are given in the _kja_-mode, thrice over with bow and formal offer of spear-combat, for the distastefully obvious nature of this reference to the work of Degtiar, Imp.2.556. on 'The Cheekbone In Galactic Art And Surgery'   
> [3] Please see the attached vox-recording: 'For The Length Of Three Breaths, Respectful Silence And The Scent Of Lime-Flowers'


End file.
